LIME rolls out new Business themed ADSL and Local and International Landline Calling Bundles - DigiHome offense could Herald the coming of LIME FTTH and relaunch of LIME TV

“We aware of the many challenges that operators face in equipping their Business to function efficiently in today’s fast-paced environment and we want to make it simple for especially small and medium sized entities to access the services they need to make their Business strive while controlling their budgets”

Head of SME Business Sales, Vennis Williamson on the Launch of three (3) new Bundled ADSL and Landline Packages

Telecom Provider LIME is taking no chances.

They’ve decided to respond in kind to Digicel’s DigiHome Fixed Line Product as described in my blog article entitled “Digicel rolls out DigiHome, their first Residential Postpaid Fixed Line Service - Ramp up for Landline Number Portability and LIME’s Homefone Xpress” which is their bid to woo Telecom Provider LIME Landline Customers before the coming on MNP (Mobile Number Portability) in May 2013 with a product of their own.

Their response is to rebrand their ADSL (Asynchronous Digital Subscriber Line) Service and Landline Local and International Calling Bundles into a more attractive set of three (3) packages, which oddly enough, are geared towards the Business Community as stated in the article “LIME targets Businesses through bundled packages”, published Tuesday, October 01, 2013 2:50 PM, The Jamaica Observer.

It fits with the prediction of a response from Telecom Provider LIME, albeit I was expecting something along the lines of LIME Homefone Xpress for Residential Customers, only being spread islandwide as argued in an earlier blog article entitled “LIME Landline Rental Increase and HomeFone XPress - The Dead Zone is the Sum of All Fears ”.

After all, those are the potential customer Telecom Provider Digicel is targeting with their new DigiHome Fixed Line service that’s effectively their very first Postpaid Voice Service! So Telecom Provider LIME is all about the Business Customers. Hence their three (3) packages are named as follows:

1.      Business Basic

2.      Business Ideal

3.      Business Pro

Broken down in more detail, this is really a repackaging of Landline and ADSL to be competitive with Digicel’s DigiHome as stated in “LIME launches new Business bundle packages”, published Friday, October 11, 2013, The Jamaica Observer.

The Business Basic package offers:

1.      3MB ADSL

2.      1,000 local minutes

3.      250 international minutes for calls to the USA, Canada and landlines in the UK

The Business Ideal package offers:

1.      6MB ADSL

2.      2,500 local minutes

3.      500 international minutes for calls to the USA, Canada and landlines in the UK

The Business Pro package offers:

1.      8MB ADSL service

2.      3,000 local minutes

3.      1,250 international minutes for calls to the USA, Canada and landlines in the UK

Telecom Provider LIME has already reduced it Cross Network Calling rate earlier in the year and had recently reduced the Landline to Mobile rate to JA$2.89 as stated in “LIME MAKES ANOTHER RATE CUT - EVEN CHEAPER TO CALL FROM FIXED TO MOBILE”, published Sep 27, 2013, Time4Lime, so this was inevitable.

At the time of writing this article there was no official Press release on this New Set of Services, leaving me to speculate that Telecom Provider LIME has not fully worked out all the bugs as yet. After all, it seems a tad strange that they’re launching a service specifically to attack Business customers when Digicel’s DigiHome is attacking Telecom Provider LIME Residential Customers!

This reminds me of my suggestion for Telecom Provider LIME to re-bundle ADSL and repackage it for Fast Rood Restaurants to provider Wi-Fi Services as stated in my blog article entitled “Fast Food Wi-Fi for LIME's ADSL Broadband when FTTH goes Mainstream - Mother's and KFC to Supersize Me with Wi-Fi”.

Telecom Provider LIME Bundles – FLOW begins marking its territory

The idea is essentially the same thing Telecom Provider LIME is suggesting, with the exception that my original suggestion targets a fast moving fast paced growth arena that has customers who often Browse and Eat as Mothers Enterprises has discovered.

Telecom Provider LIME’s new ADSL Landline Bundles merely widens the circle albeit they haven’t dropped the prices, which are way too expensive when compared to the prices for FLOW’s Surf and Chat as shown and explained in the TV Ad below:

Clearly albeit Telecom Provider LIME’s trying to protect themselves from Digicel’s DigiHome, they’ve also attracted the attention of Triple Play Provider FLOW, who also is interested in the Fixed Line Arena. This is because Triple Play Provider FLOW makes a considerable amount of their revenue from Millennials (ages 18 to 28) and Generation X (ages 29 to 45) want more than just ADSL and Bundles minutes.

These younger, often married professionals who have settled into a more bucolic stage of their lives want the modern comfort of Landline and High Speed Internet at prices that are more reasonable as argued in my blog article entitled “FLOW rants of Voice Decline as LIME Provides the Evidence of coming Profitability - The Hobbit An Unexpected Journey Adventure begins for Data Networks”.

FLOW Competition inevitable – LIME must roll out FTTH and Streaming LIME TV

It’ll be interesting to see how this looming Fixed Line Mobile battle which is being fought on the Mobile, Landline Cable TV Fronts unfolds. Will the increased marketing activity from Triple Play Provider FLOW finally force Telecom Provider LIME to rollout LIME FTTH (Fiber to the Home) as described in my blog article entitled “LIME goes FTTH like Verizon's FiOS - Free ADSL after FTTH Mass Adoption”?

And if so, will Telecom Provider LIME eventually rollout the revamped LIME TV now that we are in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 as predicted in my blog article entitled “LIME poised to revamp and relaunch LIME TV in the Fourth Quarter of 2013 - A Rebranding of LIME TV for Live and VOD Streaming to push 4G LTE and FTTH Services is on The To Do List”?

This in a bid to compete against Triple Play Provider FLOW coming onslaught of Streaming TV via a deal with e-Media Interactive to invest some JA$31.31 million in a content deal with Triple Play Provider FLOW as stated in “eMedia to invest $31.3 million in original content for Flow TV”, published Sunday, September 22, 2013, The Jamaica Observer.

Clearly this move by Telecom Provider LIME has the potential to widen to a battle that encompasses Triple Play Provider FLOW. It may also be a precursor to the coming launch of FTTH and LIME TV, possibly in December 2013.

Stay tuned to my blog and the Geezam blog for more details!